Month: September 2006

The more I think about it, the more resentful I am of the media (well, one guy at CBS SportsLine) giving the Tigers a hard time for celebrating the playoff appearance. As Kurt reminds us in a comment to the previous post, ÒYou make the playoffs, you celebrate. That’s what you do.Ó

Three years ago the Tigers celebrated not losing 120 games. People ripped ’em then, too.

Following that ÒlogicÓ the Tigers can’t celebrate when they don’t set a record for futility nor can they celebrate when they are winners.

To hell with that, I say. Pass the bubbly.

P.S. Did you see that the Tigers are releasing more ALDS tickets? ALCS tickets go on sale Monday. I think I may have to sit that out…unless my Oakland ticket scenario goes kaput.

Technorati Tags: Detroit Tigers

Just read on MLB.com that MLB has done all the requisite coin-flipping for possible one-game playoffs for the Wild Card. Here’s the skinny:

The only coin flip regarding the AL Wild Card involved the Twins and the White Sox. Chicago made the right call and would host a playoff at U.S. Cellular Field.

Both of those teams, of course, are still in hot pursuit of the AL Central title and had to flip against the Tigers. Detroit won the flip against the Twins — a source of some comfort since the Tigers just lost three consecutive games in the Metrodome to tighten up the race — but lost to the White Sox.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Once in a while an email from MLB.com offers a nugget of information that you can actually use (as opposed to the seemingly unstoppable coupons for 15% off at the MLB Shop).

This evening I found one of those nuggets: MLB.com’s Fab Fifteen rankings. (I may be the last person on Earth to discover this ranking, and if that’s the case, my apologies.)

Where do the Tigers rank? Well, the rankings appear to be updated every Monday which makes sense because the Tigers are #3…behind the two New York teams (Mets, Yanks respectively).

Interested to see where the Tigers fall on Monday’s ranking.

Update: The Tigers remain at #3 in the Sept. 11 rankings.

That’s what you hear coming from the Tigers clubhouse in the bowels of the Metrodome.

Nate Robertson pitches another stellar game Ñ 1 ER over seven innings, for Pete’s sake! Ñ and the Tigers can’t push across more than one run against a guy named Boof.

Now the lead stands at 3 and with Jekyll and Hyde Bonderman going on Sunday against Johan Santana, I’m thinking our worst fears will be realized tomorrow afternoon.

We were all so excited to have Carlos Guillen in the lineup and what does he do? Leave five men on base, including the bases loaded.

Can anyone explain what happened to the Tigers’ vaunted defense? Another game, another error these days.

I’m looking for some positives, folks. What have you got to offer?

Wow.

How can you complain about game one of the Twins series? Can’t.

Verlander was phenomenal.

The offense explosive at long last.

Bullpen work = top notch.

I was really hoping to be able to write something about the line score having a zero in the E column and for eight innings it looked good.

I watched the game on ESPN2 rather than the FSN North option on the satellite and got to hear Buck Martinez gush about the Tigers and Jim Leyland. Something that Gary Thorne mentioned in the ninth inning stood out for me was how the Tigers have a 40 and 23 record against the Central division this season Ñ imagine if they were closer to .500 against the White Sox.

Why run Todd Jones out there with a six-run lead? Martinez or Thorne said that it was because Jones hadn’t pitched since Monday and Leyland probably wanted him to get into the flow of the series from the get-go. I’ll buy that.

Anyway, a full evening of work awaits. Already it, and the weekend, are off to a good start.

That’s the Tigers record since Placido Polanco got hurt in Boston.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ll leave it to you to decide if these are desperate times for the Tigers, but how does this strike you as a desperate measure: when Ramon Santiago‘s in the lineup why not use the DH for him and let the pitcher hit?

Santiago with a clutch hit. Still…

If the middle infield corps thins anymore, we may have to put infield coach Rafael Belliard in the lineup. Don’t laugh.

I’ve decided: Let Neifi go in the offseason and keep Infante.

It’s good to see Chris Shelton in the lineup again.

New pitcher + Craig Monroe = first-pitch flyout with two men on.

Talk about a drought: Santiago hasn’t hit a homer since Aug. 1, 2003

Final thought: The Tigers appear to be stumbling to the finish line, that much we know. But, last year’s White Sox team didn’t exactly sprint to the postseason either. In fact, I thought they’d be fatigued from fighting off Cleveland and lose to the Red Sox in the first round. Instead, the merely won it all. I’ll take that from the Tigers over the next six weeks.